Transformers Prime: The Children of Unicron
by TK-Productionz
Summary: Alternate timeline where Autobots and Decepticons continued the truce after defeating Unicron to fight a more powerful faction of MECH. Set after Thirst: Cylas didn't perish by Airachnid's hand; now free and plotting his revenge. Dark Energon is a far greater power than the prophecy could have foretold. What are these Children of Unicron? Starscream/Alexis pairing; others to come.
1. Chapter 1

**TK-Productionz Note:** _Hello everyone, no I'm not dead I've just been super busy for the last few years, things are a lot better now! ^_^_

 _So reviewing the "new terms" for this Fanfiction community. I'm not sure if this story is "okay" exactly since it has curse words, implied sexual content and violence and some strong ideological contexts. Last I recall if it is rated M on here it should be fine. If that is not okay please respond appropriately and message me about concerns and I will politely take it down. Don't just block or respond strongly/negatively. With that in mind if you like the story I would love to read comments about what you liked. If there are plot holes or areas to improve the story, I am happy to consider and amend if you would be so kind as to reply constructively._

 _Anywho, this is actually the sequel, we'll come back at some point and do the prequel. Ha, just like Star Wars!_

 **Chapter 1:**

"So, who did you say you were, again?" one, Ms. June Darby questioned to the two rather disheveled looking women who had barged into the hospital demanding to speak with her.

"We need to find our friend, Alexis Thi-Dang," the tall brunette explained. "Cadet Jenkins told us that she was admitted here after the accident."

"We were also told that you were her primary nurse while she was in the hospital," the shorter dirty blonde added. "Please, can you tell us where she is?" she questioned, a slightly hysteric edge to her voice.

June blanched hearing the words 'accident' and 'where she is.' They shook her from her well practiced health care professionalism to the very uncomfortable sensation of needing to keep national security out of general public knowledge. "Look, ladies, I'd love to help you, but there's not much I can say given patient confidentiality," June attempted to divert them. "She comes to town often, so if you stick around for a while you'll probably see her."

The girls looked at each other before glancing back to June.

"This is _bullshit_!" the shorter girl screamed. "We have driven over _900 miles_ to find her and we're not leaving until we know if she's even living in this city!"

Wincing at the volume, June quickly glanced around the nurse's station. Sadly—and surprisingly—she was the only one there at the moment.

The brunette sighed, pushing a long strand of hair behind her ear as she did so. "Look, we're not just here for ourselves, we also came to get answers for Alexis' mother. She hasn't heard from her in a couple months and is really worried." Light blue eyes met dark blue, a pleading look to them. "Please, if nothing else, just tell her to call us so we can tell her mother that she's okay. Her doctor had to prescribe her Xanax to calm her anxiety. If that's not a good reason to break confidentiality I don't know what is."

June bit her lip in indecision, but eventually made up her mind—she was, first and foremost, a mother. "Alright, look, I have Alexis' number on file and can give her a call to let her know that you've been looking for her. Until then, just stay in town, go to the local café, get yourselves some food and relax. Last I saw she's in good health and you don't have to worry."

The two girls glanced at each other again before turning back to June and nodding their heads. "Thank you for your help, Nurse Darby," the dirty blonde said appreciatively.

They both turned to go before June called out, "Wait a second! Who should I say came looking for her?"

"Oh right!" the brunette exclaimed, smacking herself in the forehead with the palm of her hand. "My name is Shannon—"

"And I'm Tori," the dirty blonde finished.

"Thank you again for your help!" they simultaneously shouted before continuing out of the hospital.

Sighing for the millionth time that day, June grabbed another nurse to watch the station while she made her way out back to make a private phone call.

A dagger of light sliced through the small gap of the thick, dark curtains hanging on the bedroom window of one Alexis Thi-Dang. The warming light of the afternoon sun heated the back of her long-top crew cut and she lazily reached up a hand to scratch her head. Yawning hugely, she reached up with her other hand to cover her mouth when her forearm knocked into a hard metal helm. Disgruntled mumbles met her ears before a strong metallic arm with sharp-tipped servos wrapped around her waist and pulled her into an equally hard and metal chassis. Lips curving into a small smile, Alexis snuggled closer to her Cybertronian lover, one partial leg coming to rest atop his thigh while an arm snaked around his neck.

The pre-war, mass displacement device created by a league of Cybertronian geniuses continued to serve so many wonderful purposes. Infiltration, espionage, and in this case, ease of sexual intimacy at reducing Starscream's size to that of a human's.

"Starscream…" she whispered breathily, her soft lips brushing against his firm ones.

"Hmm…" he purred, despite the remaining sub-programming of stasis mode making him drowsy, his cheeky ego began to resurface as he gently began to tease her lower back with the blunt edge of one of his claws.

Alexis shuddered and let out a breathy sigh against his neck. A louder moan followed as another claw drew down the junction between her lower thigh and buttocks.

"Hmm.. If only you were this easy with other things…" he whispered in a jeer, his optics opening, their passionate crimson gently lighting her hair. His trademark smirk well established on his face while her slower to react face suddenly registered his jest.

With a small growl Alexis moved her hand down Starscream's body and towards his cup. "You ass; I'll show you easy," she promised as her hand reached the seam of his cod piece.

 _Why do you build me up? Buttercup, baby!_

They both growled at the unexpected and unwelcome sound of Alexis' phone on the nightstand.

"Why in hell would June be calling at this time of day?" Alexis wondered aloud and she turned over and reached for her phone.

In a flash Starscream's servo was wrapped around her phone and he was out of bed before she could fully comprehend what was happening. "So, this is Nurse June Darby's chosen ringtone. I will have to teach the nurse to not call at such inopportune moments."

One of the Alexis' brows lifted as she sat up straight in bed. "Starscream, what are you doing?"

Ignoring his lover's question, Starscream answered her cell with a flourish. "Hello, you are currently speaking with Commander Starscream, future ruler and supreme leader of the planet known as Earth. This had better be important as I was just about ready to interface with my consort—"

"Your _what_?" Alexis snapped angrily.

"—For the seventh time this new earth cycle—"

"Oh my _god_! _Shut up_ , Starscream!"

"—And would appreciate to not be interrupted again in the future. Our sessions tend to be long and rather vigorous, you see—"

"I hate you!"

"—So my human lover gets tired easily—"

" _You_ were the one complaining last night, not me!"

"—And needs her rest between sessions. I do hope that this is important, June." Starscream finished with an air or authority, ignoring the cursing and rustling that was going on behind him.

"Um, thank you for the rather detailed and completely unnecessary look into your life, Starscream," June replied sarcastically on the other end of the line.

"You're quite welcome, June, though I must admit I didn't expect you to be one to enjoy such details of other people's intimacy," Starscream replied.

"I swear to _Primus_ that when I get my hands on you you'll wish you were created a _femme_!" Alexis yelled from her bed while she vainly reached for her prosthetics. Unfortunately, they were too far for her to reach and she would need Starscream's help to get them.

June sighed heavily on the line, completely ignoring Starscream's barb to her personal interests. "Look, the only reason I'm even calling is to let Alexis know that two young women were here looking for her just a few minutes ago."

"What?" the mech demanded with a shrill voice. "What do you mean they were 'looking for her.' What did they want?"

Alexis stopped her futile struggles and looked over at the Decepticon with furrowed brows. "Someone was looking for me?"

"They seemed like they were old friends of Alexis' and were checking to make sure that she's okay. From the sounds of it they came quite a long way to check up on her. Her mother seems to be especially worried."

"Starscream! What the hell is June saying?" Alexis demanded, her temper all but reaching its limits.

"Did these females happen to give you their names?" The second in command questioned.

"Yes, they said their names were Shannon and Tori."

"Shannon and Tori? What the frag kind of names are those?"

"Holy shit! They're here in Jasper?"

Starscream glanced over his shoulder at Alexis, almost breaking out into giggles at the sight of her nearly falling out of bed.

Her hand shot out, connecting with the floor, she grounded herself and sighed at her lover. "Just get my legs please…."

Alexis hunched over her bathroom sink, her electric toothbrush halfway in her mouth making a plume of foam around her lips. Starscream stood in the doorway, his claws slowly laying micro-ruins to the paint of the frame. His rather angled face length appearing lengthened by his frown as he pondered about these new "friends" of his Alexis.

 _P-thew!_

He grimaced at the sizeable spit. Humans, so disgusting and exotically alluring all in the same instant. After all, it was that same bodily fluid that felt so good against his-

"Why the long face?" She teased, smirking at him, their eyes meeting in the reflection of the mirror.

"Oh, nothing, just..." His eyes widened as he noticed the growing patches of flaked paint on the door frame, his servo shot to his hip. "What exactly do these women mean to you?" he questioned, his tone and body shifted to the opposite side of the door, his right wing slowly coming up in an attempt to be expressive but also to hide his vandalism.

Alexis bit down a knowing smirk, despite all his arrogance and swaggering Starscream could be quite insecure.

"Well, you recall the human educational system of college right? You see most people go through experimental phases there. Shannon and Tori, well, we were all intertwined in a year long passionate relationship. Oh man, you know how I can get crazy with libations, let's just say that long relationship got sealed in that famous drive-through chapel in Vegas. Oh shit, that's right, I don't think the three of us ever got an annulment! That's probably why they're here. Back when I was active in the military it made it easy for me to evade the alimony checks." She started to tear up from attempting to suppress her increasing drama, pleased to see the seekers' optics locked on hers. "Oh god, Starscream, can you ever forgive me? I was young, I wanted to be a ballerina, I needed the money! How could I have known they were primary assassins of the Yakuza?!"

Breaking character with her last statement, her Cheshire grin and silent wheezing had her doubled over with laughter at seeing the look on his face. If only she had taken a picture-granted there's no way she would have gotten it in time since he caught on to her sarcasm pretty quickly.

"Oh, ha ha…" He sighed before continuing, "I was being serious… For once, after all we _are_ finding undercover MECH agents all over the place..." He pinched the connector of his _nasa_ and red stripe fighting back a smirk of his own.

Before they embraced their romantic yearnings for one another she had played the punishment to his foolery, often the only one on the Nemesis that could ground the prideful seeker. What came naturally to her to "pluck his egotistical feathers" had even been commended by Megatron on several occasions.

"They're my childhood friends. You could say I was the big sister they didn't have. I taught them how to ride bikes. I was their wing-gal to score dudes. I was the one that snuck them alcohol when they were only a year or two short of 21. Don't repeat that last part…" She looked at him after finishing scrubbing her face.

Starscream rolled his optics. "Still, it seems unlikely, doesn't it?"

Frowning she replied, "Not really, with our raides over the last few months I'm not surprised. I haven't exactly been great about communication. I'm sure my mom is losing her mind…"

"So you're going out there, aren't you?" he questioned while his brows knit together.

"Hey, if I can break one of my metal feet up in a bunch of MECH's fleshy asses, I'm sure I can handle my two friends who are probably just worried about me." She approached him and ran her nails down the front of his thoracic chassis. "Besides, you'll be my eyes in the sky won't you, sugar-jet?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Tori and Shannon sat across from each other in a booth at the nearest fast food chain in town—K.O. Burger. In an attempt to save as much of their money as possible they ordered a super-sized meal to split between the two of them. The less-than-enthusiastic high school student employee seemed slightly confused that they only had one meal for the both of them, but he kept his mouth wisely shut. Eating in relative silence, the two ate their shared meal in record time and their stomachs continued to grumble with hunger afterwards.

"This is just sad. We haven't eaten a full meal since we got to Nevada," Shannon bemoaned, using her last fry to gather as much ketchup as possible.

Tori sighed as she wiped her hands on a napkin, flicking her dirty blonde hair out of the way with a short swing of her head. "We've been doing rather well conserving what cash we have. I say we celebrate once we find Alexis and have a proper full meal."

Rubbing her stomach to try and ease the ache (or was that indigestion?), the brunette forcibly balled up the hamburger wrapper and stuffed it into the empty fry container. "We can afford one decent meal if we go to a diner or something. Anything above three stars is going to be out of our price range."

"Like there's even a three star restaurant in this hell-hole..." Tori quipped.

"We could always drive to Vegas?" Shannon suggested.

Before she could answer, the boy that had taken their order ran out of the fast food joint and went straight to a blue and pink motorcycle sitting in the parking lot. Leaning over the bike, he grabbed his helmet and quickly buckled it in place. In one fluid motion, he mounted the bike and started the engine before taking off.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me!" Shannon yelled a little bit louder than necessary. "How the _hell_ can that kid afford an awesome motorcycle like that working part-time in a roach palace like _this_?" she demanded to know while gesturing wildly. "And all we have is a shitty 2000 Kia Rio…"

Tori gasped in mock mortification at her friend's last statement before replying, "Not so loud! Evinrude might hear you!"

"Yeah, yeah, the old tranny knows he's on his last wheels. He constantly leaks and sounds like that damn spaceship on The Jetson's!"

Tori was about to refute that statement when she stopped, a contemplative look on her face. "You know what? He totally does. Unless he's idling, then he sounds like a water-logged boat motor." She then steepled her fingers, "Or my grandpa with exploding flatulence."

"Oh, that's just nasty," Shannon muttered in reply before busting up laughing.

A sudden shrill scream pierced through the air, coming from Shannon's phone lying on top of the table. Not a moment later, Tori's phone sounded with the infamous line of, " _Do it! Do it now_!" Both girls picked up their phones and checked their text notifications, eyes widening when they saw the contact.

"I just got a text from Alexis!" Tori exclaimed.

"Me too!" Shannon replied. "It's about damn time. We left the hospital nearly two hours ago."

"Let's not waste anymore time then!" Tori said, grabbing the tray full of garbage and heading toward the door.

Picking up their shared drink, Shannon followed her to the entrance and walked out, holding the door for Tori after she disposed of everything. "I can't believe this is finally happening! I almost thought she had turned into a ghost or something," the brunette said jokingly, fishing for the keys that were in her pocket.

"Or maybe she just got a boyfriend," Tori added with a smirk. "She's probably been kept too busy to really think about us much."

Both girls slid into the car after it was unlocked and quickly buckled their seatbelts before Shannon started the engine, struggling with it the first two times. "If that's the case she needs to be reminded of the phrase, 'chicks before dicks,'" she grumbled. "Besides, two years is a really long time to forget about life-long friends just for some guy."

Tori's smirk widened before she said, "Maybe he's just really good in bed."

"I don't really want to think about that right now…" Shannon muttered as she pulled out of their parking spot and started driving toward a local clothing store that Alexis recommended they meet.

"Just because it's been awhile since you've had some doesn't mean you should begrudge Alexis having a good time," Tori interjected with a smirk.

"Ugh, like you're one to talk. I didn't realize that using your fingers meant you were getting some."

Tori gasped, feigning hurt "Don't diss Rosey's five sisters!"

They pulled into a vacant side street parking spot in front of the suggested store. It was a local clothing thrift shop, practically adjoined to it was also a small bridal and formalwear boutique.

Tori was the first to comment on the boutique, her hopeless romantic streak resurfacing. "And look, she wants us to help her pick out a gown for the shotgun wedding!"

"Don't even joke about that!" Shannon exclaimed while exiting the vehicle. "She knows she can't get married without our approval!"

The two laughed as they headed toward the thrift store to browse and keep themselves entertained while they waited for their dear and missing friend to arrive.

A blue and pink sports motorcycle rested in the K.O. customer parking lot. Unbeknownst to any passerby this was no simple, inanimate vehicle. _She_ was, in fact, a transforming robot with full self awareness, above-human intelligence and comprehension.

Currently though, given her "curbside duty," her comprehension was nearly void. Most efforts to continue a thought depleted with each nano-click. That was until her peripheral sensors became aware of an approaching, unwanted liquid. Some sort of vehicular fluid— comparable to human waste in the perspective of a Cybertronian.

Her frame flinched slightly, there were several bystanders lingering in the area. No way she could move herself and not get caught.

' _Jack should be finished with his shift any minute now,'_ she tried to reassure herself watching the disgusting liquid continue to ooze towards her, only an inch or two away now. ' _That's so gross,'_ she thought.

Footsteps suddenly sounded in her audio receptors and a voice soon followed.

"Woah, cleanup on aisle six."

" _Whew!_ Glad your shift ended a little early today," she whispered to Jack.

Leaning forward to don his helmet but also to talk to her without others noticing he replied, "Me too, let's get going."

Quickly mounting the sentient motorcycle, he gripped the bars as she revved her engine and quickly escaped the massively growing puddle of questionable fluids. She sped towards the street, pausing to check the traffic before pulling onto the road and taking off.

"Thanks for rescuing me, Jack," she teased.

"Hey, it's the least I can do after you rescued me twice," he said, leaning toward her gage panel as she sped off.

Not fifteen minutes later, the duo arrived at the Autobot base, making a dramatic entrance by speeding down the ramp and then turning sideways to come to a screeching halt. The only one there to appreciate it was Ratchet, but, as per usual, he had his back turned to the room and was working hard at his computer consoles.

"Hey, Ratchet, any news from one of the teams?"

Ratchet's eyes remained locked on the console. A message from Shockwave open as the primary window, the console next to him alight with images of a sample of corrupted energon and CNA strands.

The CMO was on edge. This message—which he had only received an hour ago—was indirectly specified in Shockwave's report to be a month old incident. A jolt of pain crept behind his optics. This was just one of several issues with their supposed truce with the Decepticons to fight against MECH.

It was enough of a stressor to consider the uprising that somehow managed to happen despite the fall of Silas. Then the no doubt terror he couldn't even begin to imagine Raf felt when the lapse in the truce lead to project Damocles nearly destroying the poor child's home. To find that Cylas is still alive, after being the cause of that terrible incident nearly half an orbital cycle ago…

There was too much information and stress to process in this moment for Ratchet to register Jack's question.

Arcee transformed, worry knitting her brows. "Ratchet, what is it?"

Ratchet turned to them slowly, "I've just been briefed about a _month_ _old_ Decepticon incident… Apparently, Cylas is at large, still using Breakdown's body to―"

Arcee interrupted with a shout, "Woah, Ratchet, hold on! From 'Con reports Cylas had fled after his run in with Bulkhead and Smokescreen and wasn't found."

"I mean that exactly how it sounds: Cylas was apparently captured without ' _our inclusion_ ' and held as a POW on their ship. I've just been informed that he has been missing for the last month."

Jack and Arcee looked to each other and then to Ratchet, completely at a loss of words.

The whine of grinding metal became audible, Ratchet's fists were clenched harshly. Continuing, he ground out, " _There's more_ ," while looking over at them, his expression grim. "Apparently Knockout managed to reverse engineer my synthetic energon formula and was testing its effects on him―"

Jack interjected, "You mean the formula that gave you all that power?"

Ratchet confirmed Jack's question with a nod before saying, "Yes, the same stuff that nearly got me offlined when I foolishly tried to take on Megatron." He scrolled through the message for what must have been the seventh time. "Shockwave was _kind_ enough to also report that Cylas had become a new type of Terrorcon after Starscream and Knockout decided to infuse him with both Dark Energon and the Synthetic energon. He managed to escape their ship and for the last month they have been trying to locate him."

With his bad news delivered, Ratchet leaned against the console desk, slouching with fatigue. "The only reason we've been debriefed at all about this entire incident is because they've decided he's grown too dangerous to neutralize with just their troops. The last several attempts resulted in only recovering scraps of their vehicon troops. Within the remains of their last scouting mission they were able to recover a… Head. They plan on using a cortical-psychic-patch to access the trooper's memory drives to see what happened."

Arcee stood up straight, a hardened look entering her optics while her mouth-plate set into a somber line. "I'm alerting Optimus and Fowler."

Ratchet nodded, "I believe that to be a wise decision..."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 _Journal entry 23:_

 _I had another weird dream last night… I dreamed I was a drone plane again flying over the desert. I had access to radar, GPS mapping surveillance, even satellite communication! It was amazing! Well… It was really cool until I saw three F22 Raptors flying straight at me._

 _At first I thought they were just flying by, which would have been really cool; that jet type is pretty amazing._

 _But then they started firing at me…_

 _I didn't feel pain from the rapid fire or the missiles but when they finally took out my propulsion and I began to fall… That was terrifying. Luckily I woke up right when that happened but I was really scared._

The 12 year old boy sat alone on the couch, rapidly typing and configuring code at his computer. MECH activity certainly had risen over the last few months, despite what he heard about Silas's demise from the chatter over the comms…

He frowned, a straining feeling growing between his eyes from prolonged staring at the glowing screen. Removing his glasses, he vainly rubbed at the area hoping to relieve some of his discomfort.

Despite the length of the truce between the Autobots and Decepticons, he definitely was not comfortable about the two opposing factions working together... Certainly he understood, even appreciated the benefits of the alliance. If not before, then from his first hand experience several weeks ago when Bumblebee teamed up with Knockout and several vehicons to rescue him from the custody of MECH.

It was just extremely unsettling anytime he heard Megatron's voice. What used to be pure fear seemed now to be slowly shifting into something else. Hatred? Resentment? No, it was something else… There was a certain word he had to learn last summer on his reading list… As if his subconscious whispered it to him the word rolled onto his tongue.

 _Disinterest…_

Fear and resentment for Megatron and MECH was starting to fade despite all the pain and suffering they had caused him and his whole family.

His usual proclivity for video games and other things that used to give him such joy and release also now became less and less desirable. Within the last few weeks the only thing that even seemed to register as meaningful to him was his hacking. He knew he needed to do his best, he was an important part of the team; however, the last two weeks had become somewhat stagnant. A major base of MECH's was recently compromised by the Cybertronian's new alliance.

He had lost track of the invites to hangout from Jack, Miko and Bee over the last couple of days. It wasn't until Miko shouted right in his face that he realized he had spent three continuous hours hacking a MECH encryption.

He could sense the hurtful look that Bee gave him yesterday as he walked to his family's new housing. He had completely ignored his friend's comments the entire ride, focusing solely on his computer. His laptop almost seemed like it was connected to him. It had hurt Bee, but he didn't understand why.

The simple 'Uh-huh, sure' replies that he was giving everyone wasn't like him. That was Jack and Miko's usual response whenever they were trying to understand his computer jargon.

He squinted his eyes against the bright light of the computer, deep in thought. The sadness he wanted to feel about hurting his friend's feelings just wouldn't stay. It was like he had to concentrate to even remember what had happened.

Right now the lure of his several projects, they were just too _crucial_ in his mind.

Replacing his glasses, he clicked on the smaller window to the right corner of the screen. The window enlarged, schematics of the Nemesis were animated, small orbs of light appearing on the various levels of the 3D rendering.

He could focus on feeling guilty later. Right now he was about to break an encryption and create a trojan signal within the Decepticon stronghold.

 _Tap-tap._

A small smile grew, he was going to be happy to tell Ratchet about both―

With the tap of a few keys, the 3D rendering of the Nemesis closed.

Ratchet and Prime were going to be relieved to hear he cracked the latest MECH encryption.

Alexis stared at her phone. Either the reception was off again and sending double messages or her friends were that eager and depraved to see her again since it seemed they had sent the same GPS invite twice. Then again, it had been over two years since they had seen each other...

Starscream had landed in a less visible, empty side road approximately 13 miles away from Jasper. The slight hills around them provided adequate cover. He was still trying to convince her to abandon this course of action while she was exiting his cockpit.

She just smiled up at him looking at his jet nose while he continued to speak to her without compromising his disguise. Once he finished she smirked. "You know that, in the end, I'm just going to do whatever I want, right?"

With a heavy sigh, Starscream replied, "Yes, I do. Why do I even bother?"

"Because you know you love me!" she called out absentmindedly, freezing in place once she realized exactly what she had said.

For his part, Starscream jolted with the shock of hearing what she had just proclaimed on his behalf. Not knowing what else to do, he mumbled to her about how he'd be staying in the area incase she ran into trouble and quickly took off into the sparsely clouded skies.

Alexis just stood there and watched him go, sighing at the frustration she felt for having slipped up like that. "Good job with the fuckin' word vomit, Alexis," she berated herself. With a heavy sigh, she lifted her left wrist up to her face, pressing a purple button on the side to activate the com-link to Soundwave. "I'm in position. Would you please open that ground bridge?"

A bright, swirling green portal opened five feet in front of where Alexis stood and she calmly walked into it, ignoring the sense of vertigo that now was all too familiar.

Lucky for her, Soundwave had been kind enough to open the bridge within a side alley less than a block away from where her GPS indicated her friends were. "Any minute now," she said under her breath, taking her time to leave the alley and turn down the street. "Five, four, three, two…"

"ALEXIS!"

"One," she finished, looking up and seeing two feminine figures rushing towards her from the other side of the road. Tori was the first to make contact, the shortest of the three. Despite her height she nearly tackled Alexis when she embraced her in a hug. Shannon followed shortly after. With the awkward angle of Alexis' posture to regain her balance Shannon's nose gently stuck into her ear while she gave her a hearty embrace.

Alexis smirked "Looks like I missed you assholes afterall..."

Shannon pulled back her head, "We go nearly broke trying to find you and the first thing you call us is assholes?! God, we missed you-"

Tori piped in, "I love you, you crazy cunt!"

Alexis threw back her head, feeling like she hadn't laughed this hard in years. Tori and Shannon immediately seemed to revert back to teenagers, going on about everything that had happened as of late. Alexis did her best to bob her head back and forth between the two bubbling women.

"Excuse me ladies," a curt voice cut into their conversation. Alexis stared perplexed at the officer. Apparently there were still a few law men that didn't let idle patrol ruin their health. The officer before them was a brick house of sinew and muscle, he looked like he belonged in the marines not local BFE town law enforcement. The man pulled out a tablet, scrolling and clicking, "Shannon Edlund and Tori…" He squinted at the pronunciation, "Ko-chair-ren..."

Tori spoke up, "It's Ko-herren. The 'c' is silent."

The man stared at her blankly for several seconds before pressing on, "Silverton, Oregon PD has put out an APB on your car with concerns of drug trafficking during your stay in Jasper. If you will come this way we will begin a short search of your vehicle."

"Are you kidding me? That is _ridiculous_!" Shannon blurted out while Tori stood staring at the man in shock.

Alexis couldn't help the building, cold press of anxiety in her gut. Long ago, from her military training, she learned never to take that feeling for granted-even if it wasn't one hundred percent accurate. Her breath hitched as a familiar looking vehicle turned up a side street just a short distance away. Everything about this sudden occurrence started to unwind, almost in slow motion as she noticed others in the crowd that looked like anything but BFE locals.

Interjecting quickly, Alexis saw straight through the obvious setup, "Excuse me, officer, but none of us consent to searches at this time. You can come back when you have a warrant and contact me at this number." Alexis quickly scribbled down a lesser known telemarketer number onto a piece of paper from her pants pocket. "I will be contacting my lawyer.

" _Come along girls_ ," she ground out, grabbing both friends harshly at the wrists as she began walking in the opposite direction, towards the waypoint of her first ground bridge.

MECH certainly was getting straightforward nowadays, probably none too happy about the damage her, Starscream, Arcee and Wheeljack had done to that processing facility of theirs. Good thing too―a few less MECH mobile suits to fight off the better!

Realizing that her mind was drifting, Alexis harshly snapped at herself, ' _Kickass and save your friends now, daydream later, dumbass!'_

Speaking of MECH suits, that vehicle managed to turn around and park parallel on the curb adjacent to them. Lucky for her they weren't straight forward enough to make a scene in broad daylight with plenty of civilians in the immediate area. Glancing over her shoulder, she noted that the police impostor was nowhere to be found.

' _Don't let them get us somewhere less public, stay in the open, cause a scene if you have to. Looks like they stole a uniform but weren't willing to commit a misdemeanor to impersonate the full shebang by having a cop car here. Not yet, at least…'_

Noticing the man and several others convening a few yards down from where they were originally stopped, she knew she needed to find another solution.

"Where's your car?" Alexis demanded, her tone shook the two women who were still bumbling about in her death grip on both of their wrists.

"The thrift store..." Tori pointed, the car in question less than 30 feet from them.

Alexis stared dumbly for a second, the madness of the situation certainly had heightened her tactical knowhow but not her common sense.

"Alright, you guys need to get out of here, meet me at these coordinates," her quick scribing lead to a napkin being covered in a military and metric latitude and longitudinal mess.

The two stared at her, she shook her head, "Right, hacked GPS… Umm…" Trying to recall the road Starscream was near to when he first landed. "Go to Sandy Valley road, get on… Marble or Quartz Ave..." She saw Tori automatically pulling out her phone, eager to just resort to 21st tech of GPS mapping. Alexis grabbed her hand snapping out, " _Don't_ use your GPS, that's how they found us!"

Shannon snapped out of her stupor before demanding, "Who the hell is 'they?!'"

Alexis looked to both of them, "Shannon, Tori, I love you both but right now shut the fuck up and listen to me! You want to go 10 to 13 miles away from Jasper, on Sandy Valley road, go past the―the shit hole electrical or utility _whatever_ building, go to where it's starting to get into the curved boones… Call me from there."

Tori yanked her phone back and twisted her arm away, "You're not going with us?!"

Shannon glared into their older friend's eyes, "Like hell you're not coming with―"

Alexis grabbed them both again, hoping she could lead MECH away from them long enough for her friends to make it to the rendezvous point. "I'm military, I can handle these goons and keep them away from you two but I _need_ you to go to this place."

"In BFE? Why don't we just call the cop―"

The three ducked as nearby gunfire sounded in the air, the same officer, now with a bullhorn projected to several passersby.

"Everyone clear the area! There are three women in this town that are armed and dangerous!"

Though Jasper was certainly a small, cluster of town folk for the "Town Hall and City Center" which housed several local businesses and a few chains. There was panic sounding in this particular street as the people walking around suddenly ran in fear down other streets, some running into local businesses, others taking off in their vehicles.

Alexis pulled a strange device out of her backpack, the thing hummed and extended, growing nearly a foot extra in length. Before the girls could make more panicked cries she locked eyes with them, her suddenly battle hardened features softened ever so slightly. "Sandy Valley road, don't stop until you're at least 13 miles past Jasper―I'll find you!" The two still weren't moving in the direction of their little car and Alexis scowled at them before shouting, " _Get the fuck out of here_!"

With that she ran to an adjacent street corner and began to open fire. Stealing a glance over her shoulder, she was slightly relieved to see the sad excuse for a vehicle peel away as fast as it pathetically could.

She fired a few more shots while twisting the dial on her watch with her teeth and smacking the purple button on her wrist with her chin before ducking as more modified tracer rounds shot in her direction. " _Starscream_! I hate to say this, but you were right! MECH's here―meet me where you first landed!" she shouted while firing, attempting to multitask before deciding to duck behind a car and turn the dial to select Soundwave.

"Soundwave, do you copy? I need a ground bridge, stat!"

Not five seconds later she heard the telltale sound and rush of pressure as a ground bridge opened 10 feet from her. ' _Classified be damned, Fowler can patch this up later,'_ she thought willfully while rushing through the portal, stumbling as she tried negotiating the new location's uneven terrain of cracked desert ground and dead shrubs. She collapsed her weapon and started to look around when a loud voice caught her attention.

" _Alexis!_ " The seeker was not too far off, in jet mode. She ran to Starscream, his bubble canopy already opened waiting for her. "We have to shoot down MECH, I don't think they have any fliers, but there should be at least some of those car-shifters coming this way in 20 minutes or so!"

"What are you talking about?! You're here! We're going back to the ship right now!"

She threw her pack on his seat pointedly, stopping from completely climbing in. Turning just slightly, she yelled at his navigation panel, "Not without getting those creeps away from my friends!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"I can't believe we just left her there!" Shannon screamed for what must have been the third time after they managed to get away from the sudden pandemonium of the sleepy town. "What if she gets shot? What if they kidnap her?"

"She's a trained military officer," Tori interjected logically, twisting her hands in her lap to hide the shaking. "She can handle herself. There was probably some backup in the area or something!"

"I don't care about any of that," the brunette growled out, slamming her hand against the steering wheel. "There's no good reason to leave her alone back there. Anything could happen and we wouldn't know until it's too late!" A quick glance in the rearview mirror showed the girl that there was only one car behind them, but she did a double take when she recognized the color and unique build. "Uh, I hate to break it to you, TK, but I think we have our own situation on our hands."

"What are you talking about?" the dirty blonde asked, starting to grow concerned.

"I think someone is following us," the brunette supplied grimly.

Tori was about to turn around and look when a quick hand to her shoulder stopped the action.

"Don't turn around. If they're watching as closely as I think they are, they'll see and know that we're onto them," Shannon attempted to calmly explain.

With a quick nod of her head to show she understood, the dirty blonde pulled down her visor and slid back the small plastic shield protecting the cheap mirror to get a look. It was hard to see details given the size of the mirror, but she made out the color easily enough. "That's the same car that was parked across from us on the street…"

"That's what I thought. If they're after Alexis, though, why bother with us?"

"Because we're her oldest friends and just so happen to be in town?"

After a long pause, Shannon replied, "You know what? I hate it when you're right."

"It's a gift," Tori replied facetiously.

Alexis looked around from the bubble canopy, waiting for any sign of her friends' car.

Unlike a typical F-16, Starscream could easily hover in place roughly 2,000 feet above ground. His voice surrounded the cockpit with a placating tone, "Alexis, you need to accept―" the glare sent at his Heads Up Display was impressive, but he pressed on, "that if they haven't arrived by now, the chances of us finding them―"

"Please, just give it another minute…" she pleaded softly. Instead of her usual commanding voice, her tone at the moment was shaky and uncertain and he was taken aback, having not heard her voice tremble in a very long while.

The sergeant looked down at her lap, regret easily recognized on her face. "I was sloppy with the GPS in my phone, that's how they found me." Closing her eyes and shaking her head she continued, "I don't want to imagine what they'll do to them to get to me, to get to the Autobots."

Starscream felt her hands clench his side-mounted flight-controls in a vice grip.

When she lifted her head up to look at his HUD again, her brow was furrowed with renewed determination. "We'll fight them off and send my friends back to Oregon through a ground bridge." A brilliant smile lit her face that she reserved specifically for the sly mech. "Then you can take us back to the Nemesis and there will be no more complications, I promise."

"I'll get Soundwave to send us some of my seeker armada…" he replied resignedly. Groaning at the spark-wrenching, glittering look of happiness coming from Alexis. "But you owe me!"

Testing his level of comfort after their previous incident of the dreaded _three word statement,_ she purred, "Would that be with or _without_ my clothes on?"

The absolute lack of response didn't sit well with her. It seemed like he was opening up his comm link to request troops―at least that's what she told herself he was busy doing.

Her attention was happily shifted with the sight of a little, ugly, gold-green car bumbling around the bend of a small hill. From her auspicious vantage point she saw five MECH vehicle shifters tailing her friends at a steady pace. "Looks like there's only five suits so far. I guess they figured they caught me with my pants down and didn't bother with calling for more personnel."

Starscream answered her this time, "Regardless, my troops will be here in several clicks."

Alexis resigned herself to some more neutral banter, "Hopefully we'll leave some scraps for them to fight." With that said, she dug her phone out and quickly selected Shannon's phone number.

Completely on edge from the long draw of anxiety with their uncertain predicament, both girls jumped when the iconic song "Cherry Bomb" rang out from the back seat.

Shannon and Tori sighed in unison. The brunette rolled her eyes, quickly spouting off a theory of why this crazy occurrence was happening in an attempt to make light of the situation. "I swear to God if this is her idea of a revenge prank so many years after that one time we shaved half of her head―"

Tori added to it, equally as hopeful as she climbed to the back seat to grab the wailing phone out of Shannon's purse. "I mean, she was bound to cut it off soon enough after she had decided to go into the air force as per their standards. It was only logical that we just help her get ahead in the process."

Finally managing to get her fingers wrapped around the phone, Tori turned about-face to sit properly in her seat before swiping the green phone on the screen that would accept the call. "Alexis?!" her voice rang out, more anxious than she intended.

The sound on the other line was very cacophonous; static, white noise, and what sounded like air pressure of someone in a windy location was drowning out any words in the call.

"Alexis! _Alexis_?!" A quick look at the phone's screen showed that the call was lost.

Alexis pulled up the text message application on her cell after the call was abruptly dropped. "Bastards are probably trying to disrupt their reception― I hope this text goes through!"

Shannon panicked, "What did she say?!"

Tori pulled down the phone's menu bar, "I couldn't hear her―the reception, it's so… _weird_." She stared at the reception icon jumping between an X to three bars rapidly.

Both women sighed, somewhat relieved when an animalistic scream alerted that they had received a text message. Tori opened it, reading aloud, "It's from Alexis, her swipe is a little off but I think I can read it... Stay where toy― _you_ are, I'm coming in _hate? Don't leave the cat…_ I think she meant car."

Shannon muttered, "Like hell we're just going to get up and abandon the ca―"

Both girls were thrown forward in their seats as an unknown, solid force hit the rear of the car. The paltry engine of Evinrude sputtered a couple times before going silent. Shannon automatically reacted by pulling on the emergency brake, cursing loudly after several attempts to get the lever up. Luckily the car was slowing swiftly enough on its own before one of the unknown vehicles sped around them using unfathomable speed. The car abruptly cut in front of their lane and brought the little Kia Rio to a forcible halt.

Not a second after all the vehicles came to a full stop, men covered from head to toe in black tactical gear and full face masks emptied the beast of a vehicle that blocked the girls' car. Once the small vehicle was surrounded, the men all pulled out odd, bulky guns and pointed them at the young women through the windshield and side windows. Both women started to panic, their hands up in plain sight out of reflex, tears running down their faces.

A bolt of hot red light suddenly imbedded into the hood of the vehicle, causing smoke to billow from the engine. The sinister looking men glanced around in shock, quickly distancing themselves from the small car. More projectiles rained down on the military cruiser until the men retreated completely, the mysterious bolts of deadly light following in a patterned stream to get them further away. All the while, the brunette and blonde clung to each other over the center console, screaming and crying as they heard the steady rhythm of ammunition ring in deafening bursts around their vehicle.

Alexis eased her finger off the trigger, thankful Starscream had given her control of one of his Energon-plasma blasters. "Okay, the suit in front of them won't transform anytime soon!"

She scanned his HUD for the other aggressors, hopeful to keep aggressive fire and missile-blasts out of their current situation. "Can you take us closer? I want MECH to follow us and get away from them so there's no complications getting through!"

He growled, quickly diving to fall within proximity of the other vehicles, he and Alexis firing rapidly on either side of their trajectory to deter the regrouping agents from succeeding in using one of their electric 'stun guns.' As a few of the blasts zipped in lines around him, he shot into a curved upward break and wingover maneuver.

A green light flashed in the sky and several silver vehicon seekers flew out of the ground bridge that appeared just in time. Starscream and Alexis let out a shared sigh of relief.

The added air support gave Alexis a moment to think as she began to contact Soundwave. Her mind was working double time while she asked him to create a new ground bridge to Silverton, Oregon. She enunciated each word but her brain was thinking of something else as she watched the transformations of the intact MECH ground suits mobilize into bipedal robotic fighters to battle with more equal footing against their air attackers.

' _They got to me without much difficulty, how hard would it be to find my friends again? They're not going to stop hunting them until they either have them and use them for ransom to get me and the Autobots or kill them to spite us. Hell, they might just do both. There's no way I'm going to ask Fowler to sneak them into the Autobot's main base; there's been too many attempts just from the Decepticons alone to get the location, truce or no truce._

She stared at Starscream's navigation system, doubt suddenly clenching her chest. ' _Looks like the Nemesis might have two extra human pets for a little bit…'_

Dialing again, she promptly altered her instructions. "Soundwave, cancel the ground bridge―There's too many of MECH's goons near them!" she lied.

Before Starscream could process what she just said she grasped onto his controls again. "Starscream, I need you to land near that gold car!"

" _What_?!"

"They're not safe to go through that ground bridge, MECH will just find them again, hold them for ransom or torture them until they can get to all of us!" Her hands let go of the flight sticks, cutting into several gestures as she tallied off her rationale. "You need to take us all back to the Nemesis!" she shouted as her hands shot back down and started manipulating the flight sticks, hoping to maneuver him herself. Unfortunately for her, she felt him jolt them back into his control.

"Out of the question!" he shouted while promptly veering upward.

Her voice shook again as she howled, several tears breaking through her steal composure. " _Starscream,_ _please_! I'm sorry for pushing our relationship, but _please_ don't let my friends _die_!"

The two were hidden together on the floor of the backseats, pressed nearly on top of each other so they could both fit. With every burst and shock of artillery fire that rocked their small car they visibly flinched. They were figuratively blind in the dizzying barrage of gunfire and small explosions that seemed to encase the small car. The deafening firepower left them completely unaware of their life-long friend banging on the back passenger window.

They screamed and ducked down at the sharp sound of glass breaking and the rain of shards falling on them. Unwelcome hands began clawing at them and they batted them away several times, only stopping after they saw a few feeble strikes connect with the stern face of Alexis. Fortunately their absolute dread had weakened them, otherwise their friend would have been completely miffed at the bruising. Both women cried with relief, exiting the car unsteadily through the window since the door refused to open. They clung to their friend as they worked to keep their feet under them, all the while combating the astonishing pull and strength the double amputee woman had as she practically dragged them along.

Too shell shocked to register the fact that now in front of them sat a military-grade, grey F-16 fighter jet, they mutely followed their childhood friend up a small rope and eight inch beam ladder into the single seater cockpit. They nodded dumbly as she shouted precise commands to them of how to get themselves situated while she reclined the seat to the extent of 30 degrees. They ducked down as the canopy started to lower, locking all three of them in place.

With that they stared out into the horizon, Alexis's voice still drifting in and out of their low levels of registration. Something about a force and holding some sort of bag...

Tori, forehead practically pressed against the glass stared absently from side to side as the landscape began to blur. Her and Shannon shared the same dulled sense train of thought of how they enjoyed roller coaster rides.

' _This isn't so bad_ ―'

Then the afterburners engaged and take off speeds went full throttle. They would have eaten those words if the sheer force of the gravity that now compressed their bodies and frayed their vestibular systems wasn't forcing them to regurgitate everything they had consumed over the last eight hours.


	5. Chapter 5

**TK-Productionz Note:** Quick reference guide, use of colons _:text and dialogue here:_ signify text comms between Cybertronians.

Chapter 5

The large and rather intimidating blue and red figure of Optimus Prime made his way through the ground bridge, his SIC close behind him, both of their faceplates stern, gaits even and forms rigid. All Cybertronian and human heads turned toward their regal entrance, waiting on bated breath for what was about to be said.

"Autobots and allies," the Prime began, his voice melancholy and shoulders slumped ever so slightly, "I am afraid that we have much bigger problems at hand than we had originally anticipated."

Ultra Magnus glanced to his leader before adding, "We will proceed with debriefing you all about our conference with Agent Fowler, General Brice, and the Presidential Cabinet."

Arcee was the next to speak up, after debating whether it was an appropriate time to ask a question. Taking a small step away from Bulkhead and Wheeljack to address the Prime and commander, she hesitantly said, "Before we begin I would like to ask what we are going to do about this conflict in the truce. It's obvious that the 'Cons don't take nearly as much stock into this alliance as we do." A bit more quietly she added, "We never should have made an alliance in the first place."

Ultra Magnus frowned at the interruption, barely containing a glare. Though she was being somewhat reasonable, it still agitated his deep-seeded training to seek and enforce protocols for personnel meetings; questions and comments should always come _after_ a debriefing had been completed.

Optimus turned his radiant blue optics onto the small femme and nodded in acknowledgement. "I expected Megatron to keep some of his secrets but not something of this magnitude. We will have to convene with the Decepticons and discuss with them what our plan of action will be regarding the capture and possible annihilation of Cylas."

"Woah, boss-bot, you can't really be thinking of _killing_ Cylas… Right?" Bulkhead asked with complete disbelief, casually placing a servo on Arcee's shoulder in reassurance.

Optimus sighed heavily, the weight of his position as leader ever taxing. "As much as it pains me to say this, I, along with Agent Fowler, believe that the best course of action concerning Cylas would be immediate termination on sight."

Ratchet cut in with a loud exclamation, catching everyone's attention. "Optimus! I know the dangers that Cylas poses to everyone, but do you really think that such drastic actions are needed? He's still a human after all and we―"

"I understand what you mean, Ratchet," Optimus smoothly interjected, "but Cylas is no longer considered human. Agent Fowler and the human government are in agreement: if Cylas should be found by any of us, we are to call for immediate reinforcements from both Cybertronian and human allies. We should not, under any circumstances, engage him alone."

Ultra Magnus folded his arms and nodded, "Per agreement with The United States Government and once proper support is available, we will summon Agent Fowler and call a meeting with the Decepticons to forge a plan of action. After much deliberation, we managed to convince the human government that it is in everyone's best interest that Prime determines what will be done with the remains."

"Wait a minute, Optimus," Jack started, moving closer to the railing and standing by the shoulder of Smokescreen. "Isn't there a way that we can track Cylas? He _is_ using the body of a Decepticon, so couldn't we track the signal of him being online?"

Ratchet interjected, "It appears that Soundwave was already using such a strategy, according to his report. However, I fear that Cylas is using the geography from a previous sighting to his advantage. The attack happened over a week ago and was near a Decepticon mining operation. Those tunnels and the natural energy readings from energon ore are doubtlessly masking his frequency."

Smokescreen absentmindedly took a step closer to Jack, leaning back into a more relaxed position. "Wait, isn't he just like any other bloodthirsty, mindless Terrorcon? Why would he be sneaking around like that?"

Miko took that opportunity to put in her own two cents, practically hanging off the railing close to Wheeljack. "Yeah, Zombie-cons are pretty dull bulbs! You sure it wasn't just a bunch of dumb Decepti-goons getting their afts handed to them?" She smiled sheepishly when the SIC, technically her commanding officer and supervisor, rigidly snapped a glower at her.

Wheeljack, despite the gravity of the situation, took a moment to smirk at the SIC and youngest wrecker. He was glad to see he wasn't the only one with the innate ability to peel the stiff war-horse's paint. Despite the growth Ultra Magnus had displayed to be part of their family and less of their commanding officer, he could still revert to strict protocol. Miko had practically become the SIC's adopted sparkling and undoubtedly was a source of comfort and grounding for the old mech.

Optimus frowned before redirecting attention back to the matter at hand, knowing the information he was about to divulge would disrupt the flow of this meeting even more. "We are very certain. Cylas is far more cognizant than any Terrorcon we have previously encountered. Afterall, the report provides that they were experimenting on him while he was alive. Most likely he had retained his previous military and tactical expertise despite what had become of him after his encounter with Airachnid."

Ratchet balked, clearly surprised with this new information. "The report never mentioned the release of Airachnid!"

Ultra Magnus stared at Optimus silently, attempting to process all the complications that this new development would inevitably cause.

Arcee visibly shook, her brows turned down and eyes blazing―with suppressed rage or apprehension, no one was able to tell. Bulkhead and Wheeljack both turned to console or restrain her as needed with the sudden knowledge of her ultimate adversary being returned. Miko looked at her sadly and then to Bulkhead, feeling enough empathy for the femme after what had nearly become of her guardian at the crazed ex-Decepticon's servos a while back.

Optimus smoothly interrupted everyone's disparaging thoughts before they could spiral out of control. "I engaged in a private transmission with Megatron shortly after the meeting and was briefed on additional information." He turned to Arcee, his expression between that of empathy and admonition while everyone else remained silent. "Arcee, I know that you were especially resistant to the Decepticons having custody of Airachnid's stasis pod and I cannot begin to process your apprehension with this cataclysm―but I need you to stay strong and continue with your current missions. It is my hope that the additional information Megatron provided me per my request will give you some solace; know that though Airachnid is once again free, she is stranded on an uninhabited moon orbiting Cybertron."

Arcee rapidly shook her head, her arms rattled while her servos clenched tightly into fists. "I will stay on my missions, Sir, but if anything changes with Airachnid I would appreciate being notified of the situation."

Optimus nodded, stepping over to place a firm servo on her shoulder. "Though I personally do not want you to endure having to encounter her again, I will alert you to any change in her location."

Arcee visibly relaxed at hearing Optimus' confirmation and sighed, "Thank you…"

Optimus smiled at her and then turned to Ratchet. "Now would be the best time to contact Soundwave and setup the dual team conference. We need to begin the collaboration on how we will handle this situation within the parameters given―together."

Miko smiled brightly at Ultra Magnus, her commanding officer and designated father figure, whistling sharply to get his attention. "So boss, what's the pentagon like? Did you have to crack some Cabinet-heads to get things done?"

Magnus slightly wilted before tiredly smirking at her, the situation at hand was exhaustive and he decided to welcome the relief his daughter-figure provided. He really had enjoyed the moments, though he wouldn't admit it, where he, Optimus and Fowler had disrupted the formality and bureaucracy of the previous meeting.

He walked over to her, his previous stern demeanor completely melted away. "The secretary of state and defense both hit the panic button several times when I finally just stood up and started yelling at the whole cabinet." He smiled fully when her infectious laugh bubbled up.

"I'm relieved that this country's President Obama, has a good sense of humor and was able to calm them down."

The young femme really had managed to melt him down into a casual paternal figure for herself instead of a more dignified officer and soldier relationship he had originally preferred to maintain. With her as part of the raids he commanded, she continued to prove her mettle as a reliable team asset with her mastery of the Apex Armor.

While Miko had continued to laugh and ask him questions next to her two fellow Wrecker compatriots and Arcee, she absently glanced at the new arrival of Raf.

The adolescent remained several feet away, his eyes slightly obscured by a slight reflective gleam on his glasses. As she tentatively began to approach, she could better see his demeanor. A thousand mile stare held his gaze steady on the activity of Ratchet at the comms panel.

She frowned slightly at the expression on his face but thought little of it before then turning her attention to the screen Ratchet used to initiate audio and visual communications with the Decepticons.

' _Raf looks kinda off today… Again…'_

Alexis sat back in the pilot's seat, face grim and resigned while her two friends were piled on top of her, having just covered everything from their most recent meal after experiencing breaking the sound barrier for the first time. It smelled of french fries, bile and onions. Despite the ringing in her ears brought on from the stress of their current predicament she could still hear Starscream's wail of anguish surrounding the cockpit. And to think that Cybertronians didn't need to breathe to make sound...

"Tori, you can stop screaming now," Shannon moaned while clutching Tori closer to her since she couldn't actually hold her own stomach.

Between the convulsive dry heaving and attempting to take deep breaths, Tori stutteringly replied, "It's not me…"

"I know it's not Alexis," Shannon responded, glancing over her shoulder, trying not to care about the muck that was everywhere. "Right?"

"Definitely not me," she said calmly, "though I am sorely tempted to start."

Surprisingly for Tori's size and unfortunate for Starscream, the sudden maneuver to fly closer to the second ground bridge that appeared forced the woman to bend forward and expel what remained in her stomach onto his flight panels.

What little was left of his restraint to preserve the facade that he was just an F-16 fighter jet disintegrated. Flying through the last ground bridge, he came to a sudden halt on the flight deck of the Nemesis. In utter rage and disgust he popped open his bubble canopy, launching all three women from the seat as he abruptly transformed.

Shannon and Tori looked up in sublime terror, the only thing stopping them from screaming was the altitude and lack of oxygen. He quickly grabbed them in one servo and Alexis in the other and proceeded through the entrance. An emergency ping sent to Knockout as soon as the doors shut behind him, not even bothering to attach a message to inform the physician of his predicament.

The blast doors closed behind them, pressurized atmosphere flooding the area and allowing the two terrified women the air they needed to scream repeatedly as loud as they could.

Not more than two to three cries of help and absolute fear rang through the halls before Starscream's much louder voice shouted out. " _Silence_ you two _miserable_ femmes before I give you a reason to scream!"

This only made the two scream more and struggle in his claws even harder.

Alexis grunted, shifting herself as she felt his other hand tighten around her as well. Her ears ringing, she snapped at him, "Starscream, how is that helping?" She turned to the two, "Guys… _Guys_! Hey! Hey! _Shut the fuck up_!" She screamed as loud as she could, her previous experience as a Sergeant suddenly kicking in. A tired sigh escaped her lips as two sets of eyes and one set of optics landed on her. "You two bitches done? Welcome to the last two years of my life that I couldn't tell you about!" she projected, voice firm. She needed to get these two to calm down before they alerted the entire ship to their, more than likely, unwelcome presence aboard the Decepticon war vessel.

Knockout trudged down the halls following the coordinates of Starscream's alert. He rolled his optics, no doubt the emergency would turn out to be something trivial.

Moving closer to the vestibule near the ship's dorsal launch pad, he could hear other voices aside from Starscream's―particularly one strong, effeminate voice he recognized all too well. A knowing smirk curved his face. The seeker and his Inamorata had recently been interfacing like overcharged turbo-foxes. Maybe the little emergency had something to do with the two resident love birds.

He rounded the corner, his smirk fading and swiftly replaced with a look of confusion. There was definitely Starscream and his soon-to-be paramour. As he approached he saw two additional human femmes in the seeker's other servo. Alexis and Starscream seemed to be in a shouting contest with one another, not an uncommon sight. His brow quirked at the other two femmes, which appeared to be struggling for their very lives.

Not missing an opportunity to goad the second in command, despite the irregular situation, he called out to get their attention. "So this is your emergency: building a _harem_?"

As he stepped closer he caught wind of a foul stench emitting from the mismatched group. He stopped completely when he saw the gross, unknown filth that coated the humans and Starscream's midsection.

Grimacing, he amended, "A very _disgusting_ harem." He made sure to stay at a minimum of 30 feet so he wouldn't get too close to whatever covered all of them. If any of that horrific substance got on his new paint, he didn't think even a dip in a smelting pit would make him feel clean again.

Alexis eyed her friends, cutting in before they could register the other Cybertronian, though they most likely had, and give them another reason to scream in horror all over again. "Ha ha ha, so funny Knockout―Girls―Girls!" They looked back at her instead of the new mech when her tone changed and her volume rose.

As if she was suddenly speaking to someone who either had a traumatic head injury or possibly a small child, she made sure to speak slowly, clearly and firmly, ignoring the fish-eyed look both mechs shot her. "That is Knockout, he's the ship's medic and has been a good friend of mine for a while now... The guy holding us is Starscream, yes he turns into a jet... Yes, he is a giant transforming cybernetic lifeform. Knockout is too, and so is everyone else on this ship―" She could see a new sudden look of terror from the two as if she were about to peel off her own skin and announce she was an alien. "Except the three of us, we're human... Yes I'm the real Alexis, not some robo-alien-clone.

"Shannon, at your third horse riding competition you got bucked off and nearly knocked out all of your permanent front teeth, but you still managed to get back on the horse and steal second place. I still remember the picture of you holding the red ribbon with Monty Python looking blood covering your mouth and running all the way down your white shirt and dark purple blazer."

"Tori, you have a scar between your index and middle knuckles on your right hand from where you punched the shit out of that horrible douche I used to call my boyfriend at the time. His tooth ripped open the skin but you were still punching him until we pulled you off. The guy ran away screaming and crying while we held you back. I remember you growling and snarling like some vicious animal to try and chase after him."

Shannon eyed her while Tori slumped quietly, looking pale. "They could have just read your mind and implanted those memories," the brunette surmised, her cynical sense of humor seeming to kick in based on the small smirk that twisted her lips.

Alexis rolled her eyes. "God dammit, Shannon, if they wanted you two dead they would have left you back there or thrown you off the ship already." She looked at the two mechs, mustering a sincere smile. "Which I'm very thankful they haven't."

"It's still an option if those two don't stay quiet..." Starscream muttered glaring down at them and clenching his servo ever so slightly.

Shannon looked at him in offense while Tori began to tremble. The brunette wrapped her arms around the dirty blonde, ignoring the vomit covering both of them in favor of what seemed to be a very possible danger.

Alexis slapped his index admonishingly, "Starscream, can you just let us go so I can calm down my friends?"

He gazed at her angrily but resignedly. Leaning forward somewhat, he released them roughly four or five feet from the ground. Alexis was the only one who managed to land upright, both Shannon and Tori landed on their sides. Looking at her friends she noticed the tense form and fearful, glazed look in Tori's eyes.

Before she could utter a syllable, the woman was up and running, halfway down the hall and too close to Knockout's peds for his comfort. The CMO let out a startled wail and jumped to the side, one foot raised and ready to leap away again. His vanity was clearly the greatest risk to him at the moment. With that, the blonde was swiftly running around the corner and out of view, ignoring the shout of her name from her traveling companion.

Alexis was too tired at this point to panic, "Damn, that girl can move! She could give Miko a run for her money! Let's hurry and go get her before someone else does," she said while grabbing Shannon's hand and taking off down the corridor. Shooting the crimson mech a look as they passed him, she asked him snidely, "Seriously, Knockout…?"

Both girls stumbled as Starscream passed over them with a single step, but only Alexis didn't shy away from the mech's peds. Catching the expression on his face as he turned the corner, Alexis came to the unfortunate but rather unavoidable conclusion to the seeker's mood. ' _He is furious… Great_.'

Not even ten seconds later they heard a shrill scream ring through the halls followed by Starscream growling loudly in frustration.

Finally rounding the corner with Shannon a little ways in front of her, the initial 'oh, good, he caught her' mentality she had quickly turned into 'oh, God, we're totally screwed…'

Tori, still screaming and struggling, was now in the claws of a lone vehicon. The drone held her securely in both servos at arm's length away from himself. Despite the lack of expressive facial features, the bot clearly looked at a loss of what to do with the howling and flailing creature he just snatched up off of the ground.

Starscream slowed his sprint and held out his servo in front of the drone's, addressing the vehicon angrily. "You there, give that human to me!"

The drone looked between Starscream and the human once before promptly handing the hysteric creature over, more than happy to no longer have to deal with it. Once in Starscream's grasp, the mech quickly turned and dropped the girl in front of her friends, letting them deal with the situation.

As soon as Tori hit the ground she was scrambling to stand back up again. Not ones to be fooled twice, Shannon quickly tackled Tori, nearly knocking them both over. Wrapping her arms tightly around the dirty blonde's arms and waist, she did her best to keep her still as Alexis made her way into Tori's line of sight.

"Tori, look at me," she gently demanded, placing her hands on either side of the girl's face. Making the hysterical girl meet her eyes she continued, "Everything is going to be okay. No one is hurting you, no one is going to hurt you. You're safe and I'm going to make sure you stay that way."

"Do not make promises that you cannot keep," Starscream disdainfully quipped.

Tori's struggles renewed, a couple tears leaking from her eyes while her breaths became shallow and close together.

"You're not helping, moron!" Shannon grumbled out, not caring nor expecting the seeker to hear her. A sudden elbow to the gut had her wheezing in pain and switching her focus back to the matter at hand.

Starscream's eyes widened in shock before narrowing in anger. His anger only became more pronounced as he heard a deep chuckle sound out behind him. Looking over his shoulder and down the hall, he saw Knockout's figure peeking from around the corner and watching the drama unfold. The cherry-colored 'bot was very careful to maintain his distance, however. "Knockout, after this all gets sorted out, I command you to assist Alexis in removing the _filth_ that the humans purged from their tanks in my interior!"

Knockout's giggling abruptly halted to be replaced with a look of revulsion. "Commander Starscream, surely it would be easier for your mate―"

"Would you two, _shut up?_ " Alexis demanded, glaring daggers at the two mechs over her shoulder. Turning back to her light-haired friend, she started stroking her hair in a way that she used to do all the time when they were kids. "Don't listen to them, everything is going to be alright, you'll see. Now, I want you to take deep breaths. Can you do that for me?"

Nodding her head quickly, Tori began to comply with Alexis' instructions. The more she relaxed, the more Shannon slowly loosened up on her hold. In just a few minutes, Tori was calm enough to not bolt, but refused to relinquish her death grips on either of her friends.

"Alright, let's move out of this hallway and somewhere more private." With that Alexis groaned and grunted to get herself back on her prosthetic feet, grateful to no longer have to be on her hands and partial legs. The angle and press in that position was still painful against the nerve bundle of her partial left thigh.

She glanced at Tori, the blonde didn't look too steady on her feet. "Okay looks like we're gonna frog walk together." With that she motioned Shannon to one side, her on the other to support their friend. She snuck a look at Starscream, he still looked angry and disgruntled, best not wear out his good favor by asking for another ride.

Knockout followed suit, his proximity nearing all of them. He had accepted the likely outcome that he would in fact have to help Starscream's mate clean up the vile residue.

He looked over his shoulder to find the vehicon following them. The drone clearly at a loss of what to do otherwise. "So, we can't just call you ' _you-there_ ' what's your identification number?"

The drone who had been absentmindedly glancing around the hall snapped his head to Knockout. "Sigma Tracker Vector-318, sir."

Alexis joined in, "That's a bit of a mouthful for us _fleshies_ , can we just call you… _Steve_ for short?"

STV318 looked down at the being ahead of him and the medic. He recognized the femme, frequently seeing her around the ship. ' _So the rumors are true; Starscream's Inamorata_ _is a_ _human_.'

Not wanting to anger the creature of the Second in Command's affections, he replied, "Of course, sir― _ma'am_ , uh… Steve it is…"

Knockout smirked, "Glad you know how to treat the Second in Command's mate."

Starscream at the front, had heard most of the conversation and tensed at Knockout's remark. He squared his shoulders and growled out, "I see the rumors are still as pertinent as ever, most likely due to a certain _medic_ I know…." He turned to eye Knockout with contempt.

The CMO merely gave him a smug grin.

Starscream rolled his optics and huffed, turning back around calling over his shoulder. "Alright _Steve_ , you are charged with helping keep watch over the two new humans."

A creak of metal rang out as the vehicon stood straight, not out of respect but shock of being burdened with this new, troublesome responsibility.

Knockout eyed the SIC, noting how he didn't slow his pace to be at the side of Alexis like he usually would. Deciding subtlety might be a good option he sent the seeker a private frequency message.

Against his better judgement Starscream opened the message within his internal HUD.

The message read, :Everything alright between you and Alexis?:

He growled aloud, and sent a private message back. Alexis frowned, privy that the two were probably communicating in that mental text message system they had.

Knockout frowned when he opened the response, the all-caps text practically reverberating in his cortex.

:NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, KNOCKOUT!:

Not one to stay completely out of friend's business he decided to send a message to Alexis' phone. He felt less intrusive about his decision given the femme's current preoccupation with supporting her companion to walk.

A bright light and flash of a ground bridge suddenly spawned several metres ahead of them.

Alexis looked at the shared, dumbstruck expressions of her friends. Thankful that they were in awe instead of panicked. Though they had passed through several ground bridges to get to the Nemesis, the two at the time probably didn't register it.

' _Those swirling portals really are rather pretty if you take a moment to look at them. When you don't have to fear something terrible coming out to attack you from the other side, anyway.'_ She smirked at the two.

Her smile fell when she saw the navy blue form of Soundwave appear. The third in command would be contacting Megatron, if he hadn't already.

Tori's gaze drifted up from the oddly double jointed legs, past the wide and angular chest, finally reaching the being's head. Where a face was expected she instead saw a dark void, as endless and perilous as the maw of a supermassive black hole.

What remained of her ability to stand upright suddenly vanished when she registered the turn and angle of the being's umbra-like face focusing on her.

Alexis grunted, the sudden pull of weight from her friend going knock-kneed pressed on the still sensitive nerve bundles in her amputations. Joking to help counteract her growing pain she chided the woman, "Oh, looks like you're falling for Soundwave― _Ow_! Tori, get your feet under you!" she nudged her toward Shannon who helped her stand back up.

Starscream looked at the third in command, steeling himself, knowing there was no escape. Alexis quirked a brow at him. Somewhere from within the seeker it appeared he audibly sucked air through his vents in an analog of a person taking a deep breath. He raised his servos slowly attempting to assuage the third in command, "Let me explain―"

An audible ping rang from Soundwave before his visor displayed an icon of none other than Megatron as he sent an automatic alert to the overlord.

Starscream's eyes widened before he suddenly struck a stance that appeared a combination of indignant and defensive. " _I said let me explain_!"

"Shit…" Alexis groaned.


	6. Chapter 6

Both sets of eyes were on her suddenly and she couldn't help but make a pained expression in response to the whimpers and whispers that repeatedly asked her what was happening. Taking a deep breath, she attempted to re-inflate her resolve. Giving her two friends her signature look of authority, she started, "You two need to keep quiet; don't say anything, don't do anything, don't even look at him. Let _them_ do all the talking and if he approaches us, let _me_ do all the talking. Tori you can stand on your own now right because I need you two to get behind me―In fact, go stand over by Steve."

The two women were shoved towards the CMO and vehicon trooper. Knockout side-stepped slightly, still on high alert of the potential risk of filth. The drone attempted to give her a desperate expression by slumping his shoulders and looking between her and the two females that approached him.

"Starscream told you to keep watch over them, so keep watch," she stated as she raised her arms and scolded the mech. Turning about-face again, her lips pressed into a firm line as Megatron rounded the corner of the far hall. In a few ground-eating strides, the chrome-colored warmonger was before them, his trademark scowl darkening his features.

Starscream's wings fell, pressing flush against himself in betrayal of the faux confidence he attempted to exude with a more upright posture. Slight sparks flickered in his palms as his claws scraped against them with anxious compulsion.

Megatron turned and addressed the third in command, disregarding the chain of authority entirely. "Soundwave, what is the cause of this urgency?"

Alexis saw Starscream tense as his leader acknowledged the intelligence officer and pointedly ignored the grey seeker. With a heavy sigh she knew this was another blow to Starscream's morale.

Soundwave acknowledged his leader with a nod before swiftly turning in the direction of the vehicon, a slender black digit extended to isolate the two small creatures peering from behind the mech's peds.

Megatron followed the direction of the digit, his optics appeared to emblazon with more anger as he glared harshly and stepped forward.

Starscream was about to speak only to be pushed aside as his much larger master stepped past him. The Decepticon leader briefly noticed Alexis before stepping closer to eye the two new humans.

Knockout looked at him uncomfortably and the vehicon visibly shuddered.

Not exactly addressing anyone in particular but speaking in a way that begged the question to all involved, he looked down at the two fleshlings with visible scorn. "What are these _rats_ doing here?"

Starscream stumbled for a solution to the two humans' presence that wouldn't result in near-termination. "Funny you should _describe_ them as such, Lord Megatron. Afterall, we could always use more hostages in case the truce proves―"

Megatron's reply was a drawn out growl and turn of his head towards the stuttering fool.

Alexis looked between her two friends and Starscream. Favoring the two (relatively small) humans as opposed to the currently, somewhat-contemptuous mech to spare the wrath of Megatron, she ran over to stand in front of her cowering friends in an attempt to shield them. As she stood there, she couldn't help but hear Tori (who was still in a stupor) utter, " _He looks like an owl_ …" Looking over her shoulder, she saw Shannon lean in and whisper the reply, " _Owls_ eat _rats._ "

Alexis shushed them both, glancing back in anticipation at the incident that was most likely going to end with Starscream being used as a mop for the floor.

The SIC backed up quickly, at a loss for words. The helpless look on his face got the better of Alexis and so she did the only thing she could think to do in this bad situation. Her shrill whistle―despite the breath-stealing pounding in her chest―rang out sharply and echoed down the halls, serving its purpose nicely by getting Megatron's attention back onto her.

"It's my fault!" Alexis called out, stuttering slightly from the weight of her own words. "MECH hacked my phone and followed me to my friends," she explained with gesture to Tori and Shannon, "Most likely to capture and use them as hostages to get to the Autobots." Taking a moment, she tried to remember the proper tech-terms, "I know that this ship has electromagnetic shielding and other cloaking technology, so I thought it would be better for them to be here. Any place else they would have been able to easily find them again and honestly―" she sucked in a shaky breath, startled by the dark logic behind the next statement that was at the tip of her tongue. "Wouldn't you prefer to locate and lay waste to the Autobots yourself if the truce falls through?"

Seeing his glare harden, she sputtered in her need to change tactics. Despite her attempts to appeal to his unwavering rationale, he easily saw through her ploy. Her next question, though it sounded like a plea from a child to its parents, was sincere.

"Just for a few weeks?" Alexis shrugged, looking at him with her head cocked, palpable doubt lacing her request. She straightened herself before continuing, "Until I can find a better solution and make sure MECH won't continue to go after them."

Alexis' logic, though at the risk of sounding childish, flowed from her with more confidence. "They can stay in my room and due to their size I'm sure there's plenty of ways you can use them as free labor for maintenance and cleaning. _Hell,_ they're definitely more able-bodied than me, so you could get them to do a ton of work for you―six days a week! You could have them climb and crawl through all sorts of vents and ducts… And like Starscream said, you'll have two extra bargaining chips if the truce goes south." Once finished, she studied the way he looked down at her, his glower was more relaxed but his face certainly didn't convey that he was ready to take the deal.

Ever so slowly, Alexis began to lower herself to the ground, her already inflamed nerve bundles starting to sing sharply again. Attempting to ignore the pain, she bit her lip and continued to get down on her hands and knees.

"Alexis!" Tori called out worryingly, moving to help her friend stand back up but for a hand on her arm. Looking over her shoulder she saw Shannon shake her head slightly and mouth 'wait' before turning her gaze and watching the large robotic leader's reaction.

"What are you doing?" Megatron questioned, slightly nonplussed and ignoring everyone else present entirely.

Alexis looked up at him briefly before staring back at the ground. "If I have to beg― _ow_!―to save my friends lives, that's fine by me. I'll do whatever it takes to ensure their safety, even if it means compromising my own."

Everyone looked slightly disturbed as the warmonger suddenly let out a low, deep chuckle. Daring to look and gage his reaction, Alexis flinched heavily at the sharp toothed smile directed right at her.

"Get up," the Decepticon leader commanded.

She bit back a whimper as the chill of regional pain continued to build in her right thigh. "But I just got myself down here..."

Ignoring the comment, Megatron continued, "From my time as a gladiator I have only had one true comrade." A quick, meaningful glance was sent over to Soundwave and the TIC nodded, remembering well the bond they forged in the arena. With an indifferent look he watched her pull herself back up before nodding to accept the proposal. "I can respect your willingness to harm yourself for their asylum; I accept your offer. Your friends will be my servants―for the time being."

The Staff Sergeant let out a relieved breath and bent forward slightly to get some of the weight off of her right thigh and to simultaneously display her gratitude. "Thank you, Lord Megatron."

With a huff and shake of his helm, Megatron turned and addressed the rest of the Decepticons. "Soundwave, you'll be in charge of the humans' tasks. See to it that you don't go easy on them. As for you, Starscream," he growled out while rounding on the seeker, "you are incredibly fortunate that these humans are going to be of use to me or I would not think twice about your immediate termination, inamorata or not!"

Whipping around to face Knockout and the nearly forgotten vehicon, Megatron continued, "You two will oversee their needs and injuries if they sustain any. I don't want to be bothered with this again or there will be consequences."

"Oh, and _Starscream_ ," he turned back on his SIC looking up and down briefly upon the sullied chassis of the quaking mech in disgust. "Try and make yourself look more presentable by tomorrow morning. We are, after all, holding a very crucial meeting with the Autobots and human military." With his dark promise made and the forewarning of an upcoming crucial meeting delivered, the leader of the Decepticons turned and headed back towards the bridge of the ship.

Everyone stood still in stunned silence, trying to wrap their minds around everything that had happened and been said in such a short amount of time. The lingering reticence was broken by none other than Shannon with her facetious question of: "Wait one goddamn minute; were we just sold into slavery?"


	7. Chapter 7

The mismatched party of six meandered down the desolate hallway, all of them sharing in their resentment towards Soundwave. The TIC and Communications Officer had only ground-bridged Megatron and himself to their destinations. There was no doubt that this was an added punishment for the calamity brought forth from the two women. Thanks to the vastness of the ship, each member had more than enough time to contemplate their individual torments from the recent situation, the only indication being in the heavy weight of their footsteps.

Starscream remained at the head of the group, his gait stiff and his wings stretched out midway from his back, forming a rigid V-shape that was perpendicular to his forward posture.

Alexis would occasionally squint at the scraping of the seekers heels, but her gaze remained steady on his form. Based off of how he was moving, she postulated that his mood had remained unpleasant despite Megatron's absence. ' _He's obviously still upset over his own chagrin due to Megatron once again. The position of Second in Command doesn't seem to matter much on The Nemesis._ '

Tori watched her friend's worry play across her face, the blonde's level of understanding only scratching the surface of the turmoil at hand. "Can we tell him we're sorry? It's not like we wanted any of this to happen." She jerked a little when the crimson robot―Knockout, was it?―off to her left answered her question sharply before Alexis could respond.

"A better apology would be for the three of you to thoroughly scrub yourselves and the length of these corridors until not even the slightest trace of your disgusting purging remains."

Alexis sighed, and put on her best placating smile. "That sounds like a great first task for them tomorrow. Tonight, with Starscream's permission, I ask that they rest up. It's been a long day; they were almost taken as hostages, got shot at, and got to feel breaking the sound barrier for the first time." Her smile then twisted to something a little sinister, "Besides, didn't Starscream order you and me to clean him up before anything else?"

Knockout pursed his lips, her genuine pleading yet somewhat commanding tone managed to roll right through his agitation and pick at his resolve. He vented loudly and rolled his optics. "Fine, but _you're_ going to do all the scrubbing, I'll … pass you supplies," he stated with a grimace.

Alexis began to bite her lip as the realization of her inevitable interaction with the irritable seeker set a cold streak of discomfort straight through her gut. "Sure, Knockout, whatever's easier."

"Are you sure we can't help?" Shannon spoke up.

Tori looked between her two friends and shot a quick glance of uncertainty at the giant robots. "Yeah, it is our― well, _was_ our food that caused it."

Alexis smiled tiredly at them before glancing to Knockout. The cherry-red mech was watching them but didn't interject. She was glad that he appeared somewhat privy to the underlying conflict that was going on which far outweighed just having to clean up vomit. "No, you need to rest. You're both going to have a _lot_ of work to do tomorrow. I can handle this while you guys get cleaned up."

The remainder of the journey carried on in silence with the exception of the fleeting, hushed comments between the three women.

As Knockout and Steve broke from the group to attend to their assigned duties, Alexis felt herself grow tense. Rounding another corner, the remaining distance to her and Starscream's individual quarters came into view far too quickly for her liking. A frown curved her lips at the growing unease that began to manifest in her body. With a deep inhale, she turned her mind to focus on her priorities, the first of which was to get her friends situated. ' _Then I can deal with my own self-destructive desire to try and talk with the frustrated mech_ …'

The sergeant placed her hand palm down with spread fingers on the scanner to open the door. "We'll have to get Soundwave to scan your bio-signatures so you can get in and out of this room on your own."

"Cool," Tori and Shannon blurted in unison.

A much louder compression sounded as the door to Starscream's room opened and then closed, the girls only catching a glimpse of his wing tips.

Alexis huffed, drawing looks from her friends that she didn't want to acknowledge. Hopefully the seeker would do her a slight kindness and wash off most of the mess before she needed to go in for the deep cleaning.

"Well, here's the estate, ladies. Try not to get lost in the vastness of my room," Alexis declared with a facetious tone as she turned in a slow, dramatic fashion, gesturing to the barely 500 square feet of the room. "I've got a mini fridge, but until we can get fresh food I'd stick with the MRE's and Ramen. MRE's are military grade and though they may not look it, I promise they're edible. The microwave is pretty good, just be careful with the handle. Shampoo, conditioner, and all that stuff is already in the bathroom and there are some spare clothes in the dresser. So, make yourselves comfortable. I'll figure out where I'm gonna sleep when I get back."

Shannon and Tori looked up from their reading of the lengthy ingredients list of an MRE, both asking, "Where are you going?"

Alexis clenched her fists absently, "I have to go help cleanup Starscream and no, again, I don't want you two coming with. You need to get some rest." Walking to the door she stopped mid step before turning to face them. "Oh, and when you use the shower, I'd turn it off and back on again every ten minutes or else the water can get boiling hot."

The two women looked rather dumbstruck before slowly turning in unison to gape at the door to the bathroom.

* * *

Alexis stared at Starscream's door while taking several deep breaths. She counted three large inhales and slow exhales before using the human level comm to notify him of her presence.

When he didn't immediately reply she assumed that he was still washing up―or he was delighting in making her wait as some sort of punishment. She began to shift back and forth, losing track of the time while she stood out there before the abrupt hiss of the door opening surprised her. Shoulders tightened involuntarily as he stepped towards her while his optics stared down impassively at her diminutive figure. In an attempt to distract herself from his look of displeasure, she noticed that the mess on his midsection had been slightly reduced.

Without a word he turned on his heel, a silent invitation that she didn't want to accept but did nonetheless. Once inside his room, the closing of the door behind her seemed to toll like a knell. Her body tensed a bit more as he kept his back to her while using his comm link.

"Knockout, is your table ready? … Good, we'll be there shortly."

Turning back towards Alexis, he began to crouch and tentatively reach for her but she took a step back. "Wait," she called out, studying the flinch of his claws before looking to his face. "Starscream, can we talk about what happened? Please?"

The seeker stood up again, his wings raised defensively above his shoulders, adding to the miniscule feeling she had as she stood at his feet. Shining red optics narrowed as his voice lowered to a growl, "Talk? Didn't you do enough of that at my expense already? Or do you take pleasure in seeing me―"

"I thought I could take the blame," Alexis cut in.

Starscream stared at her incredulously as she let out a despairing breath at her mouth never ceasing to stay shut at the most inopportune moments. She took advantage of his silence, furious at her or not, to continue speaking. "I'm sorry Starscream, it's just… Well―"

He leaned over her, suddenly growling out in a scathing voice, "You think you could handle Megatron better than myself?"

"That's not what I meant―"

He placed his servo down next to where she stood and his claws scraped the floor as a way to convey his irritation. Frustrated with the situation, he stood up again and began to walk, half turned towards the sergeant, "Tell me, Alexis, was what you said earlier also an attempt to undermine my authority or do you make displays of monogamy in jest?"

Alexis gasped sharply, somewhat startled from her verbal reaction before taking a few more breaths in a vain attempt to keep her tears from falling. "Starscream, I―"

The seeker stepped back towards her, leaning over her miniscule form as a blatant tactic to intimidate and gain the upper hand. "Even _Decepticons_ ―" he stated sarcastically while placing a servo to his chest, "do not take for granted the slightest implication to the bonding of Conjunx Endura." He sneered down at her, "Just because your species can engage in such acts of union on a whim only to terminate them a short time later―"

"Oh, and why don't we get into that then?" she asked while raising her arms up in anger. Despite her planted spot on the floor she could only take so much, giant robot or not, before her own insecurities flooded her mind and shifted into rage. "What am I to you, because clearly I'm guessing I'm not your conjunctiva enderah-or whatever!" Tears slowly made their way down her face, but she continued despite the warning signs of the much larger being before her. "I've slept around plenty, Starscream, and I'm tired of it! I'm looking for someone I can start a steady and meaningful relationship with!" She sniffed quickly before pointing a finger at him in contempt. "And how dare you talk to me about my species like we hump and dump every second! At least I had the balls to say something a little more passionate and meaningful than the usual face-suck and fucking we've done for the last month!"

Starscream swiftly cut in, "When Cybertronians bond it is forever! If one dies, the partner will shortly follow. Do you seriously believe that you could ever consider such a life-long commitment?"

Stomping her foot angrily, Alexis cried out. "I'm not asking you to give me your bullshit, alien-suicide relationship pact! I'm just asking you if you're even interested in the thought of having some sort of relationship with me. Or is this not going to go any further than fighting MECH and knocking boots?"

He sighed and pulled back only shooting fleeting glances at her. "You still don't get it, do you? How can I possibly have anything more meaningful with you?"

Alexis cried in dismay at the sting of his words, but he continued.

"Despite your insolence to interject in Decepticon affairs, I have held my glossa until now. I am the Second in Command! How could I ever have anything greater than what we have already, species and vulnerabilities aside?" The venom in his tone sank into her chest as he spoke his final words, always looming over her. "Are you willing to sacrifice your allegiance to Humanity and The Autobots to stay by my side when the truce finally ends?"

Alexis hung her head in defeat, no longer knowing what to say.

Despite their brief argument, he did not hesitate this time to pick her off the ground as if she were a mere object and began to head out the door and towards the medical bay.

* * *

Knockout was just finishing up dousing himself with antibacterial deodorant spray all over his chassis when Alexis and Starscream finally made their appearance. Though he hadn't touched any of the saturated humans he was worried the smell could have seeped into his armor and wormed into his interior, regardless of the distance he maintained.

The sharp hiss of disengaged locks indicated the arrival of the two lovebirds. As he turned to greet them he immediately noticed the slump to Alexis' shoulders and the rigid bearing of Starscream. The medic frowned before switching to a more sarcastic demeanor. "Well, let's get this over with," he said while gesturing to the nearest berth.

Starscream set Alexis on the utility counter of the operating table and then lowered himself in place. Knockout made sure to step only as close as he needed to―which was at least twenty feet away.

The clicks and shifts of Starscream's cockpit opening up echoed softly in the spacious medical bay. Alexis waited for one of the mechs to place her on his abdomen, cleaning tools bundled in her arms and a couple of dingy rags thrown over her shoulders. Starscream only gave her a brief glance before grudgingly picking her up and gently placing her inside his interior. Obviously the vain CMO wouldn't be coaxed to do so without an excessive amount of threats as his incredibly vain nature and recently polished finish could possibly be damaged.

Alexis huffed, placing the several rags, trash bags and spare toothbrushes from her stock onto his seat. The supplies were crammed to one side in an attempt to give herself enough room in the narrow cockpit to sit down when she was ready to clean. She met eyes with Knockout, raising her hands up expectantly for him to hand her the cleaning solution, giving him a tired look as he refused to step closer. The cherry mech extended his arm as much as physically possible, avoiding any and all risk of him coming into contact with her and Starscream. Any Cybertronian watching would have thought that the SIC and his lover were covered in scraplets instead of the remnants of regurgitated food. The overly dramatic display had her and the seeker rolling their eyes and optics almost in unison.

Haphazardly she splashed the solution about the contaminated area, ignoring Starscream's jolt of shock at the sudden contact of the cold temperature of liquid. Despite his continued agitation from her actions and words he decided to keep silent. Not only was he far too tired, both physically and emotionally, to attempt to exert his authority, but he honestly didn't want to make things worse than they already seemed to be.

Knockout did his best to hide a growing smirk as he watched their tense interaction. "You sure I can't give you two more privacy?" he jested, watching Alexis somehow manage to contort her head and upper body closer to the underside of Starscream's flight control panels and the narrow leg sections that created his cockpit floor.

Alexis bagged the majority of the solids and then started cleaning his flight control sticks. Knockout quirked a brow and made a suggestive noise in response to her double-fisting of such personal anatomy. Starscream audibly growled at him and she did her best to duck down her head and finish scrubbing in red-faced frustration before looking over her shoulder to the cherry mech and giving him a sharp glare.

The CMO stepped back slightly, trying to shake off the icy gazes from both of them. He sighed and then composed himself with a more serious demeanor. "I guess what I'm trying to get at is, are you two okay? You were near inseparable before this little incident. Two human femmes couldn't put _that_ much of a strain on your relationship..."

Alexis decided to start scrubbing the finer grooves and crevices between his control HUD panelling and floor before moving to his seat and canopy. Her scrubbing became particularly rough following Knockout's last statement and she tried to ignore when Starscream bit back a harsh comment in retaliation.

"Knockout, if you know what's good for you then you will―geh-heh!" Starscream's warning was cut short when Alexis suddenly jammed that damned bristled device against one of his sensitive nodes. He stared at the ceiling for a few seconds in silent embarrassment and irritation, hoping that she would not accidentally tickle him again.

Knockout couldn't help the smile tugging at his faceplate seeing Alexis pop up in Starscream's cockpit like one of the planet's burrowing rodents. When her wide eyes met his smug gaze he could see much of her previous sorrow was almost entirely gone. In a matter of seconds her face split into a smile devious enough to match his own. Barely masking the chuckle that wanted to come out of his vocalizer, he moved his optics back to meet Starscream's. "What was that? I didn't hear you."

Attempting to shake off his embarrassment, Starscream glowered at the medic while barking, "Knockout, I strongly suggest you mind your own-aah-hah-ha! No- _ho-ho_!" The SIC jerked and twisted his upper body, failing to contain his giggles and the reflexive smile tugging against his faceplate. His servos pressed to his sides while his knees drew up into a defensive position.

Alexis smiled widely at the seeker's antics while she held both toothbrushes, jamming them in small crevices and scraping the inner seams along his walls and seat. Though she knew she would still be in the throes of painful heartbreak after this was over and done with, she decided to dry her tears and move on. Besides, this was a great opportunity to find and enjoy his last few undiscovered tickle-spots. She was done being sad, hurt and uncertain of their future together. For what remained of today she would enjoy torturing and embarrassing him as much as she could, no matter what his retaliation might be.

As quick as the mirth had plagued him he regained some control to glare down at her. Alexis made a startled noise as she was plucked from his cockpit and dropped roughly on the utility table. Starscream then clawed out the remaining cleaning supplies before promptly shutting back the collapsed canopy. "Argh, I've had enough of this! I'll clean the rest myself in my own quarters."

Knockout, watching the spat unfurl, stepped forward after Alexis uprighted herself on the table. A stasis induction device was in his servo, ready to be used at a moment's notice. "Wait a second―"

"Knockout, what are youuuuu…" Starscream brandished his claws at the quickly approaching mech only to drop both servos onto the berth at the sudden loss of conscious thought due to his powering down systems.

Alexis huffed, the drop wasn't too steep but it spiked the pain in her temples brought on from previous stressors of the day. Collecting herself she stared blankly at the sudden change of events, unsure of Knockout's intentions. "Knockout, what―"

"Hold your horsepower, Alexis," Knockout muttered, busy monitoring and adjusting levels on his data pad. Starscream's helm sagged to one side, his optics re-opened and flickered back on. Knockout then turned fully to face her, his face smug with accomplishment like a 1950's superhero that just rescued a cat from a tree. "There," he finished with a flourish, gesturing to the seemingly drugged mech she so desperately wanted to avoid.

Alexis shot him an incredulous look, to which he shrugged in his defense, "Well, it looked like you wanted to get him to talk…"

The woman blinked at him twice before her face fell into a disappointed frown. "Yeah, but I'd like his consent first; I want _him_ to _want_ to open up and talk to me."

Knockout scrunched his face up in obvious confusion before asking, "What's the point of that if he's―"

" _Alexis_!"

The sudden scream of her name had her heart racing, but when a large, clawed servo swept her off her feet and brought her face to face with a certain seeker, she nearly had a heartattack. Once she got a good look at his face, she was pretty sure she had hit her head on something and was actually hallucinating. Starscream had wide, sad looking eyes, furrowed brows, and a slight frowning pout on his lips. It was, in the simplest terms, his puppy-dog stare. It had been a while since she'd seen it. "Are you feeling alright?" she questioned, tentatively.

"I'm so _sad_ ," he drawled out, similar to a drunk's slurred speech, if only marginally clearer. "I don't like it when we fight and I _really_ don't like how much I like you…"

A sharp click sounded from Alexis' mouth as she snapped her jaw shut at that last confession. The sudden stinging in her eyes indicated the presence of tears and she turned her face away in an attempt to hide her emotions from Starscream. Her whole body shifted as the servos holding her brought her into direct contact with the seeker's faceplate where he gently started snuggling against her.

"You need to know that it's scary," Starscream muttered.

"What's scary?" Alexis asked, almost not wanting to know.

"What others would do to you if they found out―what _Decepticons_ would do if they found out!"

"Found out _what_?" she grunted out as his nuzzling became a little rough.

"That I'm falling in love with you…"

A large clatter sounded from the other side of the room followed by whispered cursing. When Alexis looked over her shoulder to see what the fuss was about, she saw Knockout doing his best to pretend they weren't in the room having an incredibly deep conversation while being completely unwilling participants. As much as she appreciated his efforts, she wished that they were given at another time.

"Starscream, you don't have to―"

"I _do_ have to! You need to know that―how do humans say it? It's not you, it's me."

"Please stop talking…"

"If anyone knows how much you mean to me it could be used against me. And not in a good way. It's like the strange film we watched. What was the name? Taken? Anyway, the point is―" Starscream stopped suddenly when a soft hand was placed against his mouth.

"No one else has to know anything about what's between us, Starscream. The only person who needs to know how you feel is me." Sighing heavily, Alexis looked back over at Knockout while Starscream began muttering nonsense and continuing to snuggle against her. It came as no surprise the medic was openly gaping at this point but she didn't really care. "Could you get him back to normal, please?"

Knockout simply nodded before making his way over to them. In no time at all, he had Starscream in a full stasis shutdown. He grabbed Alexis before she could fall to the floor and gently placed her down by his peds. "Sorry for listening in…" he apologized awkwardly, not used to saying such things to anyone.

"Whatever. I'm exhausted and heading to bed. Are you going to keep him in here all night?"

Knockout snorted before replying, "I'm certainly not carrying his dead weight back to his berth. He can recharge just as well here as anywhere else."

"Thanks. The girls and I will be seeing you bright and early tomorrow so they can get assigned jobs and start working," Alexis replied before exiting the medbay.

Groaning to himself, Knockout slowly trudged to his own berth to get some recharge before playing sparkling-sitter with the human femmes. "The day a human becomes useful to a Decepticon is the day that I pledge myself an Autobot…" he muttered cynically, locking his berth room door behind him.

* * *

By the time Shannon fully came back to her senses she realized that she was standing fully clothed in a small shower with her best and longest friend, who was also fully clothed. Glancing down at her hands, she noted that she had been absentmindedly scrubbing at her shirt to get the mess out. Looking back at Tori, she noticed that the girl was just standing under the spray of water, staring at nothing, still completely in shock. Not one to leave things as they were, the brunette reached out and grabbed the blondes shoulder with a firm grip and shaking her slightly. "Hey…. Hey Tori. Look at me for a second."

Ever so slowly, the shorter woman finally turned her head in her friends direction. It took awhile for her eyes to adjust but when they did, Shannon moved on to her next plan.

Holding her hands just in front of her chest, palms facing each other, it vaguely looked as though she was holding something. Donning a dopey look on her face with one corner of her mouth raised in a smirk, she simply said, "Aliens."

Both women stood silent for several moments before a loud snort sounded in the small bathroom. It was shortly followed by a soft chuckling, then high pitched giggles, then uproarious laughter, and soon both friends were hanging off each other for support.

After a few moments of much needed laughter, Shannon and Tori quieted down, the former brushing tears from her eyes while the latter was clinging to the brunette's shoulder and trying to catch her breath. A few stray giggles made their way out of their throats, but everything eventually fell silent again.

Clearing her throat, Shannon quickly turned off the shower before it got scorching hot like Alexis had warned. "Tori," she started, catching the woman's attention, "I know this is the last thing we expected to have happen when we started out on this little adventure, but we're survivors. We can get through this as long as we're together, just like with everything else. And we have Alexis, so that's a major bonus in my book."

Absentmindedly, the blonde started to nod her head in agreement. "At the end of the day, we did exactly what we set out to do; we found Alexis and discovered exactly why we haven't heard from her in two years." A small smile twisted her lips before she said, "And I was totally right about the whole boyfriend, thing."

"You're always right about the strangest damn things," Shannon grumbled darkly. "How the fuck is that supposed to work, anyway? He's _literally_ the size of a jet! God only knows about his … unmentionables. Do they even have penises?"

"I think the proper plural is 'peni,'" Tori corrected.

"That's completely beside the point. How the hell do they have sex?"

"When we were in the cockpit―you know, before we started puking our guts all over the place―I noticed two flight control sticks. Maybe she uses those to―"

" _And_ we're done. I really don't want to think about that. Ever." With swift movements, Shannon turned the shower back on and started removing her sopping clothes, making doubly sure that they were clean before ringing them out and draping them across the curtain rod. "I think we've used enough water while zoned out. Let's finish cleaning up and get ready for bed. I'm beat."

Tori paused briefly in the process of shampooing her hair before rinsing out the suds and using the runoff to clean her shirt. "What do you think they're going to have us do, anyway?" she questioned with a confused look on her face. "They're advanced robotic life forms… What could we possibly do that they can't?"

Shannon hummed in thought while removing her pants and checking them over for more filth. Luckily only the bottoms got the worst of it, so with a bit of light scrubbing they were clean again. "Given their size, I imagine we'll be going places that they can't. Alexis did mention our advantage with having full range of mobility, so we'll probably be going into crawl spaces and the like." The brunette paused in the middle of washing her own hair, a horrified look on her face. "I don't know if I can do something like that considering my claustrophobia. Think the big silver one will keelhaul me if I outright refuse doing anything with tight spaces?"

Tori laughed lightly while she conditioned her hair and then moved on to removing her own clothing and making sure it was clean. "Let's just hope they have no idea what that word means. I get the feeling that these are the kind of robots that don't mind playing rough with others."

The brunettes face split into a deviant grin. "If they play rough on a regular basis, do you think Alexis is stuck doing nothing but BDSM?"

As the two girls finished showering and cleaning the remainder of their clothing, they made bawdier and bawdier suggestions on what giant alien robots may or may not get off on. Once finished, they stood in front of the small mirror suspended above a modest sink, towels wrapped snuggly around their bodies and their hair. The toothpaste they had found was balanced on the rim while they searched for spare toothbrushes to score their mouths clean. After all the cleaning rituals were completed to the best of their ability, they went out into the 'bedroom' portion of Alexis' living quarters.

The only thing available to sleep on was a one person cot (most likely army issue) that they would most definitely not fit on. Rummaging through the dressers and closet that they saw, both girls managed to find spare clothes to sleep in while the others dried as well as a few spare blankets and pillows. As they were setting up their makeshift sleeping arrangements, the door to the room _swooshed_ open and Alexis drifted in, figure hunched and head angled towards the floor. The brunette and the blonde looked at each other in silent conversation before the taller of the two stepped forward.

"Alexis?" Shannon asked tentatively, "Is everything okay?"

The sergeant raised her head, glancing at both girls briefly before moving towards her bathroom. "I don't want to talk about it," she said simply, slamming the door shut behind her.

Tori and Shannon stared after their friend before looking to each other, utterly lost for words.

By the time Alexis was out of the bathroom, completely showered and in clean clothing, both girls were passed out sleeping side by side to share warmth. She stood there, staring at the two for some time before a smile stretched her face for the briefest of moments. "It's good to have you both back," she said quietly to no one in particular. Shutting off the lights, Alexis made her way to her bed, removing her prosthetics and tossing them onto the floor before settling in and falling asleep, simultaneously dreading and looking forward to what tomorrow had to bring.


End file.
